Teach Mama Talks: Rockin’ Out with the Recorder

This educational idea is brought to you by Melissa & Doug , written by our Blog Ambassador Amy Mascott.

“Music is an incredible way to develop important academic and social skills. The recorder is a great stepping stone.” -Amy

We are not a musical family.

We do a whole lot of singing and a whole lot of dancing, but (gulp!) very little of it is done well.

So I thought that introducing an instrument to our family would be a great idea for our children, knowing that playing instruments takes coordination, determination, and math and reading skills. What better way to sneak in some fun learning?

My kids have been playing with the Melissa & Doug Beginner Band Set for years, so adding the Recorder to the mix was a natural next step. With a little bit of research on my part, and a whole lot of practicing on everyone’s part, my kids had learned a basic song sooner than we thought.

We focused on four notes: letter B, A, G, and D. And we practiced one song and one song only: Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Once we got a feel for the four notes, we tried putting them together in the song. It wasn’t easy at first, but we tried and tried and soon we got it!

Talk about determination! There was a lot of recorder playing going on in our house!

What I realized was that for my children, knowing every single note wasn’t important. It was more important for them to understand that just like reading and just like math, a simple formula would result in a beautiful song.

And it was also great for them to learn just how satisfying it can be to play an instrument. I’m positive that our simple fun with the recorder will lead to my children’s interest in other instruments–wind, string, and percussion!

Interested in hearing first-hand some of our family’s own Recorder tunes? Check out our short video that includes several renditions of Mary Had A Little Lamb as well as some fun extra Recorder songs!

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Hang with Amy over at teachmama.com for more cool, super-sneaky ways to throw in some learning in the name of fun or join her at we teach–a forum for parents and teachers to connect, share ideas and grow–no matter the classroom. Or tweet with her (@teachmama), pin with her or chat with her on Facebook!

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[...] shared the total how-to’s over at the Melissa & Doug blog, on the Rockin’ Out With the Recorder piece. Please check it out for a close-up on the notes and a little bit more about why the recorder [...]